This Family Of Five Spent $40K To Have Their Macpherson BTO Fully Designed By IKEA

When homeowner Seng and his wife walked into the IKEA store after successfully balloting for a new four-room flat at Macpherson Weave, they did not think that they would end up with a home that is nearly fully decked out in IKEA furnishings, accessories, and designed by IKEA specialists.

What started as an exploratory trip to IKEA to brainstorm ideas for their new Build-To-Order (BTO) flat turned into a one-stop design service that saw them renovate their 969 sq ft BTO flat for about $40,000.

When Stacked and other media were invited to view the family’s home earlier this month, the new home for the five-person family was nearly completed. Most of the other units in that block at Macpherson Weave, which was completed in March, were still being renovated.

This is what the kitchen looked like when the family collected the keys to their new flat. They opted for nearly all of the items offered in HDB’s Optional Component Scheme (OCS).

For three-room flats and larger units, this OCS includes floor finishes for the living/dining room and bedrooms and doors for the bedrooms and bathrooms. Other optional items include wash basins and shower sets, which these homeowners did not select. In total, the household paid about $8,000 more for the items they selected in the OCS.

This was the first time Seng and his family had to fully renovate their entire flat. They shared that their previous family home, which they bought on the resale market, was in decent move-in condition and didn’t require a full overhaul.

Keeping a lid on the renovation costs and renovation time was a priority for them this time around. They shared that most of the interior design (ID) firms they initially approached had quoted them about 20% more than the $40,000.

It was in the middle of this hunt for an ID that they found themselves back at IKEA. The family were already fans of the affordable-cost home furnishing company, having purchased several pieces of furniture and home accessories from the Swedish brand in the past.

They approached IKEA’s Home Design Service with the initial thought of using it to design and fit out their kitchen. Eventually, this project grew to encompass the design and fit-out of their entire home.

IKEA’s Home Design Service is not new. The company launched the service in Singapore last September, and it has been part of the full service offerings in other countries where the company also has a market presence.

During the showcase of the Seng family home, Steve Croasdale, Country Selling Manager of IKEA Singapore, shared that the aim of the Home Design Service is to make the renovation journey simpler and more affordable by helping customers co-design their homes with the support of IKEA’s expertise and extensive range of home furnishing solutions.

Croasdale adds that this business model works well in Singapore, especially for new BTO homeowners and new condominium owners. But the company has also designed homes for older condo owners, and some landed home owners.

In general, the efficiency of prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) – i.e. the lego-style block building ubiquitous across most new residential developments in Singapore today – most new residential developments feature similar unit configurations across the entire project.

IKEA, it believes it can offer new homeowners a competitively priced end-to-end home furnishing design solution, especially to new homeowners moving into the same unit layouts in a BTO project or condo. Achieving scale in this manner would be one way for it to offer competitive prices.

But there are limits to what IKEA’s service can provide at the moment. For example, IKEA is not able to do demolition works like hacking, as well as painting and installation works. However, the company says that it is working to expand its capabilities in Singapore in the second half of this year to include a full suite of renovation services.

For the Seng household, this meant that they had to get in touch with a contractor to manage some of the renovation works, such as the installation of some kitchen appliances and fixtures. But they say that the process was smooth and uncomplicated, with their assigned Home Design Specialist overseeing the process.

Some of the services that IKEA offers include:

• Complimentary consultation and design: An IKEA Home Design Specialist will assess the homeowners’ lifestyle, needs, space constraints and budget, and explore suitable directions and solutions.
• Dedicated end-to-end project coordination: A single IKEA Home Design Specialist manages the journey from design and purchase to delivery and installation.  
• Professional space planning: 2D floor planning to optimise layout, flow and functional space usage. 
• Detailed 3D designs using IKEA’s planning tools: Including planning support for the METOD Kitchen system and PAX wardrobes.  
• Visual design expertise: A mood board to illustrate the overall look and feel, detailing how different colours and materials work together.  
• Curated IKEA product recommendations: Furniture, textiles, lighting, and interior decoration tailored to the customer’s needs and style.

In Singapore, the renovation and interior design industry is an extremely fragmented market with numerous small, medium, and larger firms vying for the attention of new homeowners.

Every once in a while, horror stories about a renovation project gone wrong or the bad experience with an ID surfaces on online forums and on social media platforms. We’ve also covered this in previous articles.

IKEA certainly seems to think that it can offer a compelling and affordable alternative to the thousands of Singaporeans who buy homes each year. The brand is already a trusted home furnishing company with a solid international reputation, and many homeowners flock to its stores to pick up furniture, homeware, and accessories.

But while the model might reasonably work well when it comes to the so-called cookie-cutter unit layouts we see often in new BTO flats and condos, the company must also find a solution that appeals to the resale market.

IKEA says that it has set its sights on expanding the Home Design Service to resale buyers and landed home owners. As it ramps up its renovation service into a more fully-fledged suite of renovation options, including demolition works, it will be interesting to see how it balances affordability with the wide range of customisation options and design preferences in the Singapore market.